EDUCATION Secretary Michael Gove was last night branded “a hypocrite” for bank-rolling a “non-viable” city Academy, months after citing “an inefficient use of public money” for axing a transformation of Liverpool schools.

Furious city headteachers sent an “expression of dissatisfaction” to the schools chief for approving the multi-million Academy conversion of Croxteth’s unfilled De La Salle academy, in the wake of the decision to scrap Labour’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme.

The national scheme would have seen 26 ageing city schools share £350m to be rebuilt or refurbished. It was axed by the Government in July on the grounds it was too costly and dogged with “botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy”.

But, in January, the Government rubber-stamped the conversion of De La Salle into a centrally funded media academy.

It secured £7m for existing facilities and new buildings – the same amount council-run schools received between them.

Because it technically closed, it meant its £500,000 debts had to be met by Liverpool council.

And, unlike council-run schools which are funded based on the number of students on roll, the Government has promised to fund De La Salle Academy based on 90% of its capacity, which is 675 pupils, rather than the estimated 500 pupils on its register.

The widespread sense of injustice has lead to city headteachers using their representative body, the Liverpool Schools’ Forum, to write to Mr Gove launching a scathing attack on what they termed a “deeply flawed and irrational” Government policy.